Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry

$7.14 recipe / $1.79 serving

Here’s the story about how I made this recipe for Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry. A few weeks ago, I got an email from Angela touting the deliciousness of a dish called “Crack Slaw“. With such an interesting name, I had to check it out. It’s basically a quick stir fry made with cabbage and beef (or pork or turkey) that is so good that it’s supposed to be insanely addictive. Wouldn’t you know it, I saw two more recipes for this “crack slaw” on the same day that Angela emailed me! So, I took it as a sign from the blogging gods that this addictive beef and cabbage stir fry just had to make its way onto Budget Bytes.

I happened have a half pound of beef in my freezer leftover from my Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos, so I used that as the meat component for the stir fry. Honestly, I think pork or even ground turkey would work just as well or better, and will most likely be less expensive than beef. You can use a whole pound of meat if you like extra protein, but I found that the half pound I had gave me just the right ratio of meat to cabbage.

I also added some shredded carrot and sliced green onion for color. There are so many other fun things you can put in your beef and cabbage stir fry, though, like sliced mushrooms, thinly sliced red bell pepper, water chestnuts, or even some snow peas. But hey, I like to keep it simple and even in this very basic form I would have to say that, yes, this stir fry is addictive! If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw my empty post-photoshoot bowl (in my stories). It took me about 5 minutes to devour the bowl below. LOL

GARNISHES (optional)

Instructions

Prepare the stir fry sauce first. In a small bowl stir together the soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sriracha, and brown sugar. Set the sauce aside.

Shred the vegetables so they are ready to go when you need them. Cut one small cabbage in half, remove the core, and then finely shred the leaves of one half the cabbage (4-6 cups once shredded, save the other half for another recipe). Peel two carrots, then use a cheese grater to shred them (1 cup shredded). Slice three green onions. Mince two cloves of garlic. Peel a knob of ginger using either a vegetable peeler or by scraping with the side of a spoon, then grate it using a small-holed cheese grater.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot add the cooking oil, ground beef, garlic, ginger, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the beef until browned (about five minutes).

Add the cabbage and carrots to the skillet and continue to stir and cook until the cabbage is slightly wilted (or fully wilted, if you prefer). Stir in the prepared sauce and the green onions. Top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and a drizzle of sriracha, then serve.

Recipe Notes

* 1 Tbsp sriracha makes a medium-spicy stir fry. If you don't like spicy, I'd start with 1 tsp. The sriracha adds flavor as well as heat, so I don't suggest skipping it all together.

See This Recipe in Action:

Step by Step Photos

Prepare the easy stir fry sauce first, so it’s ready to go when you need it. In a small bowl stir together 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil (it has a dark amber color and VERY nutty flavor, not always labeled as “toasted”), 1 Tbsp sriracha, and 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar. This makes a medium-spicy stir fry, so if you’re sensitive to heat, start with 1 tsp sriracha.

Next, shred the vegetables. Cut one small cabbage in half, remove the core, then slice half of it into fine shreds (save the other half of the cabbage for another recipe). You’ll need about 4-6 cups of shredded cabbage. Peel and shred two carrots (about one cup). I used a large-holed cheese grater to shred the carrots. Slice three green onions. You’ll also want to mince two cloves of garlic and grate about 1 Tbsp of fresh ginger (I use a small-holed cheese grater for this). More info on working with ginger can be found here.

Add the shredded cabbage and carrots to the skillet and continue to cook and stir until the cabbage has wilted slightly. I like my cabbage to still have a little crunch, so I only cooked it until it was partially wilted. If you like the cabbage fully cooked and soft, just cook it a bit longer.

Pour on the prepared stir fry sauce…

… and toss in the sliced green onions. Stir until everything is evenly combined.

Garnish the Beef and Cabbage stir fry with a little drizzle of sriracha and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. I particularly liked the sesame seeds for the texture they added to the dish!

And that’s it! This Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry is probably one of the easiest dishes I’ve ever made. :)

This is sooooo yummy. I could not of course follow the recipe to a T but…..it is super easy to add/subtract on most of Beth’s great recipes. I use red bell peppers and cooked ramen noodles and we did not cook the green onions but put them on top so they were crisp.

I am making it again tomorrow to use the other ½ head of cabbage, yes it was that good!

I wil cook the meat, then add the carrots that I cut to matchsticks not just shred. Then add peppers and then add the cabbage so it is not cooked much at all. I added the sesame seeds but we did not get much out of them but that might have been because we added cooked ramen noodles.

It is so tasty. Way more than I thought the ingredients would lead you to believe.

I love your website. This was easy, filling, tasty and will be making again. I saved the other half pound of cooked ground beef.Maybe I’ll do the Southwest Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry with the other half of cabbage and beef! I love all things cabbage too, stays so well in the fridge!

What a pretty, colorful dinner dish! And the recipe lends itself to so many add-in options!
Since I was cooking up a full pound of ground beef anyway, I used it all in this recipe. We agreed with the poster that using just 1/2 lb. would have been a better ratio of meat to vege.
I used about 2 tsp of the Siracha, which was plenty of heat for us. We really liked it!
Next time I will probably use my Dutch oven, since I spilled food out of my 10″ skillet onto the stove top during stir-frying.

I made this tonight with jasmine rice. it was super easy make & tasty~ doubled the sauce recipe and used about a tablespoon of diced white onion instead of green. ( i didn’t have any) perfect combination of flavors!
Thank you for a delicious recipe!

Hi! I’m Beth

As a food lover and a number cruncher I've decided that cooking on a budget shouldn't mean canned beans and ramen noodles night after night. Join me for delicious recipes designed for small budgets. More »